Valley RFC
Valley RFC is a sports club based in Hong Kong with a rugby section ( known as Societe Generale Valley RFC for sponsorship reasons) as well as Netball and Hockey sections. It also has a junior rugby academy called Valley Fort. The club is historically based in Happy Valley, Hong Kong, inside the Happy Valley Racecourse, hence the inspiration for its logo, the Knight chess piece.
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| Founded | 1975 | |
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| Ground(s) | Happy Valley | |
| Chairman | Brett Stewien | |
| Coach(es) | Andrew Ned Kelly Mark Fatialofa Dean Herewini | |
| League(s) | HKRFU Premiership | |
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| Official website | ||
| www | ||
History
Valley RFC also known as Valley was founded in 1975 by a group of ex-members of the Royal Hong Kong Police Rugby Club, some displaced individuals and schoolboys who joined forces to enter a team in the local rugby competition. The result was Valley RFC, so named because of its home in Happy Valley. Valley’s men of rugby have been running out in Black and Red for the past 27 seasons and have been the most successful rugby side in recent years.
Rugby
Men's Rugby
Valley is the most successful rugby Club in Hong Kong and has walked off with virtually every trophy in all four divisions over the past 12 years. In 2002/03 seasons Valley first team went undefeated for 16 consecutive matches taking out the League and then the Grand Championship, playing spectacularly professional rugby. In the same season the coach and captain were awarded by the HKRFU with the Coach of the Year and the Player of the Year respectively. The Top Try Scorer award also went to a Valley player, with a record 25 tries. The quality of rugby played by Valley is reflected in its arsenal of players. In recent years two Valley players have moved on to play in the Super 12 tournament in the southern hemisphere and several have moved into the National First Divisions in European teams. One player from 1999 also went on to represent the New Zealand All Blacks. In the 2002/03 seasons, two ex-Super 12 players represented Valley at Club level, raising the levels of enthusiasm, experience and talent throughout the Club. Valley continues to be the forerunner of Hong Kong rugby, operating the most professional teams and raising the bar for all clubs.
Youth Rugby (Valley Fort RFC)
In 2002 Valley RFC re-established links with Stanley Fort so that it could build a better framework to cater for more youth sides and to help provide young rugby players with a seamless path from junior to senior rugby. In 2004, to enhance the affiliation with Valley RFC, Stanley Fort changed its name to Valley Fort RFC and now plays in black and red (following the senior team strip). Valley Fort is one of the larger mini-rugby clubs in Hong Kong and has over 380 registered players in its mini and colt sections. The club runs a number of teams at all age groups from Under 5's to Under 18s.
Ladie's Rugby
Valley Ladies (The Pink Ladies) was formed in 1996 as part of the development of women’s rugby in Hong Kong. Ladies rugby in Hong Kong has evolved over the years from 7’s rugby, 10-a-side rugby to the first season of 15’s rugby being played in 2002-2003. At the time Valley couldn’t field a women’s 15’s side, however they did continue in the ladies 7’s league. They are supported by the same coaches and levels of expertise available to the men’s section. Off the field and off-season they are as active with touch and tag rugby and Dragon Boating where this year The Pink Ladies Dragon Boating squad won the plate winners narrowly beating the Hockey section Avalon Maidens.
Hockey
Comprising five Mens teams and five Ladies teams, the hockey section is the largest section within Valley RFC with over 200 active members
Netball
Valley RFC currently has 10 Netball teams competing throughout the 7 divisions of the Hong Kong Netball Association. Valley RFC Netball is one of the most successful and decorated netball clubs in Hong Kong bringing home over 20 league trophies in the Senior Womens Competition. Because of our history and success, Valley Netball continues to be the most coveted club attracting over 150 players to our Women's League annual August trials. Valley Netball has recently recruited Joline Henry, former Silver Fern as player and coach.
Honours
- Hong Kong Premiership
- Grand Champions: 2003, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
- League winners: 2003, 2016, 2017
2016-2017 Squad
in bold = international players
Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.
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Notable players
Rambo Leung - Hong Kong international.- Matthew Deayton - Hong Kong international.
- Rodney McIntosh - Hong Kong international.
- Robin Bredbury - Hong Kong international.
- Owen Sussex - Hong Kong Sevens international, Hong Kong international.
- Mark Ashall - Hong Kong Sevens international, Hong Kong international.
- Dean Herewini - Hong Kong international.
Andrew Kelly - former Edinburgh Rugby player. Scotland A. international.
Kevin Curtis - former Taranaki Rugby Union player.
Grant Livingston - former London Scottish player.- Lee Jones - Hong Kong international.
- Niall Rowark - Hong Kong international.
- Salom Yiu - Hong Kong international.
- Ben Rimene - Hong Kong international.
- Jack Bennet - Hong Kong international.
- Kirk Munro - Hong Kong international.
- Justin Temara - Hong Kong international.
- Alex Ng - Hong Kong international.
- Andrew Bridle - Hong Kong international.
- Nick Hewson - Hong Kong international.
- Terence Montgomery - Hong Kong international.
- Alex Baddeley - Hong Kong international.
Thomas Lamboley - Hong Kong international.- Tau Koloamatangi - New Zealand Under 20 - Waikato Chiefs player.
Grant Kemp - former Super Rugby player for the Southern Kings.- Henjo Van Niekerk - South Africa U19 international, former Blue Bulls and Venezia Mestre Rugby FC player.